Shades of Light and Shadow
by Wanderingidealism
Summary: This is a story about monsters who hide their true natures behind the masks of well- intended men. It is also the story about a little girl who finds herself a home among a possibly insane inventor, an ancient God, an un-dead war hero, two crazy ninja assassins, a sky pirate, a zen master and a CEO. Oh; and a Giant, Green, Rage Monster with warm hugs. Here there be OCs
1. Prologue

Nox's Story

_An Avenger's Fanfiction_

_Only the aliens and Nox belong to me._

_(though it is arguable that Thor and I would be Viking buddies and go off to Europe and raid monasteries and shit.)_

_Avengers and all else belong to Marvel. And various poets. Like William Blake._

PROLOGUE.

"Tyger, Tyger Burning Bright"

-William Blake.

_Finland, December 20th, 2012._

_0800 Hours._

_The air was thick with smoke and screaming. Blinding snow whipped in frigid tendrils as the stragglers limped towards their quarry._

_"No! Go away! Please!" She shouted back at them; her eyes wide with fear, "Please don't come closer!"_

_They didn't listen. They aimed their weapons at the girl; how could one human be so deadly? And such a young girl at that?_

_They heeded not the cries of the child, as bullets full of tranquilizer fluids enough to bring down the Hulk for an hour sped towards the child._

_They never hit their mark._

_The soldiers burned out in a blaze of bright, white light; as if they were erased from existence. Any who escaped the disintegrating heat swear it was as if the words of the Bible had come true; as if some God had unleashed their wrath and left nothing behind. The screams of the damned, dead soldiers who were unlucky enough to catch the full blast echoed forever through their minds as if etched there permanently._

_Those same screams drowned out the sorrowful apology of a child as she flew away to another place; one with presumably less bullets and lots of ground cover, hopefully enough to grant her temporary refuge._

_Anyone who looked up into the clouds shedding their blizzard upon the Earth that morning would have seen a small figure dashing through them, burning brighter than a star in the night._


	2. Little Lamb Who Made Thee?

Little Lamb Who Made Thee?

-William Blake.

New York, December Twenty First, 2012.

Noon.

Tony Stark was drinking again.

Not surprising at all really; he had been down on his luck in almost everything. He hadn't had any scientific breakthroughs in weeks; Pepper had broken it off with him amicably, but that also entailed no sex; Steve was on his ass about being a good role model to the kids looking up to him, oh, and Barton wouldn't stop pestering him from the air vents.

Speaking of the bastard, said agent was currently nailing him with spit balls and paper wasps from the vent above his lab chair.

"JARVIS? Kindly show Agent Barton what security protocol XV does?"

"Of Course Sir; shall I enable the liquid nitrogen, or perhaps the flesh- eating nanobots?"

"Both."

He heard the mad scramble of the agent fleeing less-than- gracefully to another area. Tony chuckled; there was no security protocol XV.

"Tony, you shouldn't bully Clint like that, he'll only be fifteen times more annoying at dinner," came the voice of his lab partner and science bro, Bruce Banner, "Besides, he'll complain to Steve, and Steve will get on your ass about being a bully too. While Clint sits smugly like the pretentious asshat we all know he is."

"Ugh, and Steve would give the "eyebrow" look. I hate the eyebrow look," Tony groaned, chugging back another shot.

Suddenly thunder rolled through the tower, shaking every pane of glass, and volatile biology experiment currently being preformed in the lab.

"Thor's back," Bruce said, calmly assessing the damage. Nothing was broken and there weren't any screaming biological masses running amuck on the floor. All was well.

"Sir, Lord Thor appears to be back from Asgard…. I believe he wants Pop tarts," Jarvis announced, "It appears in his haste he broke the pantry doors…. Again."

"Damnit. Third time this month," Tony grumbled, "Tell point Break they're with the cookies in the large jar above the refrigerator. Bruce and I will be upstairs in a minute to show him how the new toaster works."

The two scientists ascended from the dungeon-like lab to the communal kitchen of the Tower, added during the reconstruction a few years back, after Loki's attack on Manhattan. Tony had offered the team his tower as a home when not on missions or if they needed a place to stay away from prying eyes.

Bruce Banner had been the first to join Tony in the Tower, lured in like a child with the promise of shiny lab equipment and science. Clint Barton had joined them a week or so later, after having enough of the guilt plaguing him every time he walked through the Helicarrier. With Barton came Romanoff, whom Tony had found sitting in his den in the wee hours of the dawn, the light silhouetting her figure, which actually served to make her more terrifying. That and he hadn't given JARVIS the okay to let her in yet, so how she got in without the alarms going off. Jane Foster Suggested to Thor that they move to New York, in order to be closer to the team in case of crisis. He had readily agreed (Tony may have bribed the good doctor and her assistant with science and a position in Stark Industries if they came). Steve had been the last to move in, after Pepper found out he was living in a dingy apartment in a terrible location. She practically kidnapped him, and his meager belongings, and dragged him to the tower. The other Avengers, T'challa, Janet Van Dyne, and Hank Pym, and Carol Danvers came and went as they pleased.

Tony was pretty sure that was illegal; whatever.

In truth, Steve wasn't the last. No that honor when to Agent Coulson- Phil- who turned out to not actually be dead.

Steve had punched Fury in the _face _after he found out they had been lied to. Clint looked about ready to shoot Fury, and Natasha was too busy keeping Bruce from hulking out to do even glare. Fury had been keeping Coulson on a secret island- a vacation resort pretty much, but it had served as a temporary prison while the team thought Coulson needed Avenging.

They were pretty mad at Fury then, and as revenge they kidnapped Coulson and brought him back to the tower to finish his recovery. And when Fury complained, Pepper slapped a lawsuit for "Wrongful imprisonment" and "abuse of power" onto his desk, and told him she'd push SI legal harder to get it through. Oh how Badly the PR would have been for SHIELD after that!

This of course ended the debate. And the Tower was now home to two mad scientists, a woman with the ability to strike fear into the hearts of men with the very sound of her Louie Batons on hard tile floors, A sassy, slightly trigger-happy archer, a God with a fondness for pop tarts and coffee and Lord of the Rings, the long-lost Super soldier, a deadly Russian Assassin with the ability to drink everyone but Steve under the table, and The ever stoic, but secretly a fan boy, agent of many talents.

Oh, and the bots. All of Tony's bots. They were like the misbehaving children to this fucked up family. Clint had taught DUM-E how to flip the finger within the first few days of his stay. He coaxed Butterfingers, U, and DUM-E to pester Tony when he wanted weapons upgrades, and was capable of avoiding detection by even JARVIS when he crawled through the air- vents. Thor and Steve had been banned from using kitchen equipment several times each, for their tendency to cause unintentional injury to the poor machines. Tony and Bruce have had to fix the poor toaster four times in four weeks; the poor little AI inside would probably need intense therapy before they could upgrade him again.

Tony had briefly considered lining everything mechanical with Adamantium, but Pepper shot that idea down quickly.

When the two got to the kitchen, they heard the pathetic shrieks of the toaster as Thor attempted to shove eight pop tarts in at once. Tony quickly rushed to the device's aid, rescuing it from certain destruction. Thor had the decency to look sheepish under Tony's glare.

"Point Break? How many times do I need to remind you that the toaster is a fragile thing? Yes, she may be made of metal, but she has feeling too! She's as sentient as DUM-E or Butterfingers!" Tony began to rant, as the god in question took on the expression of a kicked puppy.

"He has tried Tony; he's getting better," Bruce said calmly, as he calmed down the panicking toaster, wondering how this was his life. How had it come to the point where he was calming down sentient kitchen appliances, fighting aliens and monsters, and living in a tower of people who'd give Freud psychological problems was beyond him.

"Sir? I would like to inform you that Director Fury is on his way here- to the pent house," Jarvis said, sounding a bit disdainful.

"Shit. Can't he leave us alone? We just finished cleaning up after the Doombot attack last week, and we're tired!" Tony whined, as the coffee machine- the only one that Rogers and Thor had not broken for fear of Natasha's Thighs and Tony's wrath- poured him a nice, large cup.

"I'm afraid I can't do that, Stark," came a deep voice from behind the group. Tony Choked on his coffee and Bruce jumped.

"How the hell did you get up here that fast?!" Tony exclaimed, coughing and sputtering ungracefully.

"I used the elevator," Fury deadpanned, "Call the rest of the team up here, pronto."

Moments later, Steve, Clint, and Natasha joined them, Natasha still wet from her shower, with nothing but a towel wrapped around her. The team was used to seeing each other in various states of undress- post battle nudity was frequent. Hell, Thor slept _nude_ so that wasn't unusual.

Carol, Janet, and Hank hurried in after the others, T'challa appearing swiftly behind.

"Director, what seems to be the problem?" Carol asked, sitting down next to Natasha, who was starting to get annoyed at having her shower interrupted.

"We have an incident that I think you need to see," Fury said, pulling out a file.

The file was titled, "Demon child" and contained several detailed pictures of what appeared to be a bloody, smoking battleground in the north. There were bodies strewn everywhere, ripped apart, or clutching their heads in agony. Some bore the expression of absolute fear- as if they saw Death laughing at them in their final moments.

The first pictures were of a lab, where blood smeared the walls, and tubes and equipment were shattered all over the floor. There were several dead guards in some sort of uniform lying in the fore ground, eyes clawed out and their final screams frozen on their faces in death. A skull with tentacles hung blood soaked in the back ground.

"Wait, this is a HYDRA base," Steve said, looking a bit pale and sick. Natasha gazed stone- faced at the incident report.

"Yes. The subject in question was an experiment of HYDRA's. A Human experiment. From the Intel gathered in the base, she had been there for a few years. Undergoing several experiments that could pose a threat to the world," Fury said, gravely.

"Shit. How can one person do that much damage?" Janet voiced, eyes wide.

"and being a young one at that- a young girl… No specific age, according to the report. Are you sure all this damage is the result of one girl?" Hank asked, his brow furrowing as he became lost in thought.

"according to the documents recovered from the destruction, HYDRA had planted… something into the subject's body. We're not sure what. The pictures of the object are not very detailed, and from what our scientists can tell it isn't human. The piece of… whatever inside the subject appears to be either of magical or alien origin, and has been dormant inside the subject's body for a few years, with very sparse incidents that were easily controlled within the HYDRA laboratories. The last known entry was a month ago, an emergency call to another HYDRA base for backup…. It' wasn't pretty. There's a transcript in the file; Stark, flip to the last page and read aloud," Fury continued, as Tony spread the pictures out on the table.

"Subject 57 is out of control! Sedatives are no longer working, and all restraints have been broken! The labs have been annihilated and we're losing men too fast to take down! Send Back up immediately- " The Transcript ends there," Tony said, his brow furrowed in thought.

"She was clearly scared," Bruce murmured, feeling sympathy as the Hulk inside growled his agreement.

"Whatever the case, she is unpredictable, volatile, and must be either controlled or eliminated. She's destroyed three battleships- both U.S and foreign in the span of a few months; not even special ops could get close. Her powers are too dangerous to allow to be free," Fury stated, with finality.

Bruce glared at him, "Is that so? And you really think sending us after the girl is a good plan? She's scared, Fury; even skimming through the damage reports it's obvious. The more guns you bastards send after her, the more damage there will be. Do you think she won't regret this later? That she isn't regretting this now? She has known nothing but experimentation and cruelty for the past few years, it seems, and all she wants is freedom. What you however seem to want is imprisonment, and probably more experimentation! You're no better than the U.S Military!" Bruce didn't realize he had risen from his seat until Natasha laid a hand on his shoulder.

"Bruce, calm yourself," She muttered, and Bruce unclenched the fists he hadn't realized he had made, and let out the breath he had been holding. Fury's hand slipped away from his gun.

"I think, Fury, that the Avengers would like to wait and learn more about this renegade experiment, before we take your mission," Natasha said, glaring coldly at her boss. She felt sympathy for the test subject; she too had been raised to be a weapon.

"This can't wait. She's endangering innocent men and women-

"Who are fucking shooting at her! Did any of you government organizations ever think for one second that maybe she needs help?!" Bruce snarled, before leaving the room in a controlled rage.

He marched to the hulk-out room Tony had built before he could hurt anyone.

"I don't trust your Intel Fury. Bruce is right; she could just be scared. We should try and confront her gently first. She's bound to be exhausted at some point," Tony said, scooping up the files and putting them back in the folder.

"I agree with Stark," Steve nodded, also standing up, "I think this meeting is over, and I suggest you leave, director."

Fury nodded, exiting the tower rather annoyed, but without argument. The team watched him leave the Penthouse.

"What are we going to do? It's obvious Bruce doesn't want anything to do with this if it means tricking and/or harming the girl… Jesus she needs a name- and it's obvious if we leave her to her own devices said girl will probably die or kill some more," Clint said, pacing the kitchen.

"Well we're not giving her to SHIELD if we find her. I refuse to let them take her and stick her in another lab for the rest of her life," Steve said, ending the debate.

"What about this… technology inside her?" Natasha said aloud, staring at the file before her, seemingly emotionless.

"**Captain, I wish to visit Asgard to see if mother knows anything about this object. Perhaps she or father can identify it and from there we can find a way to safely disable it," **Thor requested, looking at the blurry, low-quality pictures of the alien technology before him.

"Go. Anything that might help us find and help the kid," Steve said, staring at the case file. The god nodded, and exited the room, heading for the balcony and signaling to Heimdall that he needed to return home.

The other Avengers went back to their previous activities, each thinking of what they had just learned And how they could solve this new problem.

Finland, December 23, 2012.

_The girl collapsed, exhausted in a heap on the old, half-rotten, wooden floor. The house was one of many small cottages in the Finnish woodlands, all abandoned years ago for various, unknown reasons. This information hardly registered in her mind; she was too exhausted to do anything but shiver on the floor, as a harsh wind blew through the hole she had made through the ceiling._

_She just wanted to be safe._

_She thought that perhaps here, far removed from any city or town, in a very cold section of the country blocked off for most of the year by winter snow, she could find shelter._

_ So far, she had only run into snow and trees. That was a good sign._

_ She allowed herself a deep breath, listening carefully to the world around her, alert to everything within her path._

_She slept only when sleep overtook her, and she was unable to resist; her body so weak and mind so numb, she passed out quickly. All was quiet and well, not a soul in sight._

_There was just the silent, slow whispering of feather-light snowflakes making their spiraling descent to earth._

_That is, until hardly thirty minutes later, the near-silent sounds of soldiers stepping through the snow, following the trail of ripped up tree-tops and half-melted snow, broke the near-suffocating silence of a forest in winter. The child woke groggily from her dead-sleep and instantly went on high alert._

_She spotted the soldiers quickly, and broke through the glass window to escape. The soldiers began to fire._

"_NO STOP! PLEASE! I DON'T WANT TO HURT ANYONE-' _

_ The child was cut off by a bullet going through her shoulder, missing anything vital only by a few inches. Her eyes widened in shock._

_They began to darken, as if being replaced by shadow, her body became engulfed in a black cloud that moved like thick syrup. The air around her began to grow thick and cold; the soldiers felt as though ice was seeping into their veins._

_The cloud dispersed suddenly; tendrils of shadow shooting forth and piercing through the armor of the nearest soldiers, as if like a sword. Those soldiers dropped to the floor in dead heaps, never to move again._

_The other soldiers saw this and fled. The black cloud was faster; it used the shadows of the trees surrounding the small houses the child had taken shelter in, and wrapped them around the fleeing men. With a collective _snap!_ The shadows broke the necks of those they held. The remaining men tried to flee, but found themselves rooted to the ground, unable to move. Thin, smoke-like waves of black rolled over them. Suddenly, each soldier found themselves reliving their worst memories and nightmares in vivid detail, with loud screaming echoing through their minds._

_It didn't take them long to realize, they were the ones screaming. They looked around for a cause; someone to blame. The only thing they found in he clearing was a painfully thin woman, clad in a dress of shadows, with hair as black as the darkest night, and eyes that were sunken and dead. That was the last image they saw before the stench of death rose from the clearing, and choked the life out of each man and woman trapped in her snare._

_ When the last soldier had fallen, and all was deemed safe, the shadow-clad figure sunk slowly into the black shadows of the trees, traveling through them as fluidly as one would through water._

_ Hours, or days later, the child woke up to the stench of death clinging to her clothes, and trees blanketed with snow. Seeing the blood dried on her hands, and the blood on her shoulder she could only assume one thing; she had killed again._

_ The child sat down and screamed bloody murder at the sky, where snow continued to gently drift down, unbroken in its serenity._

_December 24__th__, 2012,_

_Helicarrier_

Nick Fury scowled at the report in his hands; another unit of men lost. No survivors, the clearing red with blood.

Fifty, _trained,_ SHIELD operatives dead, and no fucking clues as to who did it; Fury was understandably pissed.

_What organization did this? What organization made such a monster, and how the fuck weren't we alerted to this? _He thought, popping open a small, unlabeled bottle and taking a large swig.

"Sir, Permission to enter?" came a voice from outside his office.

"Permission granted. What have you got for me, Agent Hill?"

Agent Maria Hill entered the office with a stack of results from the autopsies of the agents found in the clearing.

"The results of the research team's Autopsy; it appears you were correct sir," she said, plopping the pile down in front of the director.

"How so, agent?" Fury said, flipping through the top few pages, scanning the information.

"The cause-of-death was magic," she said, flipping to the first victim's autopsy.

"Same kind as the last attack? The disintegrating light?" Fury asked, continuing to scan the documents.

"No sir, it appears to be something akin to manipulating shadows. However, on page three of the report, the doctors found that some of the victims appeared to die of brain hemorrhages and massive swelling that appears to have been caused by a reaction in the Limbic system of the brain, and the portion that controls nightmares. It's fully explained in the report. The energy signature of the clearing matches the one left on the coast, but it's a different type of magic entirely. We've called in Dr. Strange to help explain this and figure out what caused these incidents," Hill said, a stony look on her face.

"You think I should call in the Avengers?" Fury asked, finally setting down the report.

"I think we should at least have them tracking whatever this is down. I just don't understand how we never caught any of these experiments. How did this happen? Are we that lax?"

"We have eyes all over the world, agent; this was not our fault. We'll just have to watch closer from here on out."

"I also want to know how such a small kid could contain this much uncontrollable power, and not be seen before now," Hill muttered, arms crossed. She looked exhausted from nights of research and little sleep.

"That's a question for Doctor Banner, Hill. I ain't a scientist," Fury scowled, offering her a bottle from his desk. She took it without question, chugging it back moments later.

"Don't tell Stark I keep my booze in my desk; he'll only hire Romanoff and Barton to retrieve it," Fury said, rubbing his temples in an attempt to ease the slowly building headache.

"My lips are sealed sir, as always," Hill replied, a slight smirk easing the tension on her stony face. She turned to leave, after disposing the bottle.

"Another thing agent," Fury said, stopping her before she could leave him in peace.

"Yes sir?"

"contact every agent we have in the arctic circle and Northern Europe. Tell them to keep their eyes peeled, and not to engage the target if they make contact. Then contact every superhero and mutant we've got and put them on the case. Contact Xavier and put him on alert for emergency aid," Fury said, standing up and turning to the computer screen behind him.

"Anything else?"

"Yes," Fury said, voice serious, "Assemble the Avengers; they've got a mission."

Agent Maria Hill left the room with her orders. Fury couldn't help but feel as though he had just made a mistake; a terrible, catastrophic mistake.

Stark Towers, December 24th, 2012.

Clint Barton lay poised, ready to spring. The air around him was thick with dust, yet he made no wheeze, nor cough; everything rested on his shoulders. He crouched low, preparing to spring upon the unsuspecting victim below him, his bright blue eyes only focused on this one, specific goal.

Clint Barton raised the gun to the grate of the vent he as hidden in, and fired.

"OUCH! GODDAMNIT CLINT! I SWEAR IF YOU SHOOT ME WITH THE GODDAMN NERF BOW, I WILL FUCKING END YOU!" Tony Stark shouted from his seat in the lab, glaring at the vent above his desk in the lab. He hoped there was some leftover chemical residue in there; maybe Barton the bird would choke.

"aw, but Stark! You shoot me with the fake Iron Man repulsor squirt guns all the time!" Barton whined, slipping out of the vent.

"Not true! Only on Tuesdays!" Tony whined right back, livid.

"Tony! Clint! Stop arguing this instant, or I will put you both in Dum-E's time-out corner!" Bruce exclaimed, not bothering to look up from his research. Both men pouted at him, sticking out their tongues. You swatted the back of their skulls in a scolding manner.

"See kids? Naughty children get a smack," Bruce snarked.

"You are a terrible influence on my bots, Brucie," Tony pouted, a mock glare on his bearded face.

Clint opened his mouth to snark something about pots and kettles, when Jarvis interrupted.

"Sirs, a call just came in from Agent Hill. Shall I answer it?" he asked, sounding mildly concerned.

"Yeah Jarv, put it on speakerphone," Tony said, walking over to one of the many computers in the lab.

Maria Hill's face lit up the screen.

"Stark! We need you and the rest of the team on the Helicarrier now. No delays," She said sharply, as if expecting them to appear beside her in the next five minutes.

"What's the occasion, agent? You didn't make an appointment in advance," Tony said, eyebrow raised and sarcasm dripping from his tone.

"It's about the recent attacks in Northern Europe. There's been another, and this time it was SHIELD agents," Maria said. The atmosphere instantly dropped from mild annoyance to dead serious.

"We'll be there in an hour," Tony said, hanging up.

"You catch that Captain?" Clint asked through the intercom, already leaving to grab his gear.

"Yeah, meet you at the quinjet in five," Steve quipped, sounding as if he had just finished sparring with Thor. Which he probably had, that man never seemed to stop training, unless it was time to eat, he was drawing, or if he was asleep.

The team assembled ten minutes later on the Jet. It would have been five minutes, but DUM-E threw a fit about Tony leaving, the coffee machine threw up old coffee grounds all over Natasha's uniform- the good uniform, the one free of bloodstains-, and the team had to stop Natasha from murdering an innocent, sickly AI.

An hour later they arrived on the bridge to Director Fury and Agent Hill, looking stone-faced and pensive.

"What's the problem sir?" Steve asked, as Fury pulled out a manila envelope.

"The escaped HYDRA experiment has killed fifty agents," Fury said. Natasha and Clint instantly went on high alert.

"What! When?!" Clint exclaimed, grabbing the file from Fury's outstretched hands before Steve could take it.

"Yesterday. It was brutal…. There were only two survivors, and they're being treated for severe PTSD, among other wounds."

"How did this happen? They were trained agents," Natasha said, reading over Clint's shoulder.

"Magic. The autopsy team confirmed that magic was responsible for both attacks. We have Dr. Strange working on discovering what sort of powers HYDRA gave their experiment before it escaped," Maria Hill said coldly, staring at a point behind the team.

"This wasn't the experiment's fault," Bruce said, with finality, "He or she didn't _ask _to be experimented on. If anything they kidnapped her from her home."

"Regardless of the morality and ethics behind the experimentation, these attacks need to stop. I want you to find it and bring it back to SHIELD for custody. We'll decide its fate here," Fury ordered.

Bruce opened his mouth to say something, but Tony put a hand on his shoulder, shaking his head.

"We will set out once Thor returns," Steve said, "We'll decide our course of action then."

"Very well, just get this done soon Rogers; I'm sick of reading about body counts," Fury said, turning to leave, Hill following his footsteps.

Bruce huffed and turned around, fists clenched. He stormed back to the Quinjet before anyone could speak.

They arrived back at the tower shortly after, each silent. They entered the living room to split up and pack, only to find Thor nervously pacing, fifteen empty packages of S'mores pop-tarts littering the floor.

"Thor? When did you get back?" Steve asked, eyeing the trash scattered around the room before meeting Thor's eyes.

"**Captain, I have an urgent message from my mother. She knows what the artifact inside the experiment is," **Thor explained.

Steve finally took in Thor's features. The normally joyful expression on Thor's face was replaced by a tired, almost exhausted look. His eyes were shadowed, and his skin pale.

"Thor, what's going on? You look awful," Steve asked, as the others looked towards them.

"**My Mother consulted the All-Father about the experiment performed by HYDRA. He then sought out the knowledge of one of the Norns," **Thor explained quickly, "**He discovered that this artifact is an ancient relic of the War Planet Typhon, in a world far away," **

"How the hell did it get to Earth? Furthermore, how did it get into HYDRA's hands?!" Tony exclaimed, suddenly tense.

"**That is of little importance at the moment. What's more concerning is what the artifact contains," **Thor said, sinking onto on of the couch cushions. The couch groaned under his weight.

"What is this artifact Thor? What does it do?" Natasha asked, moving toward the shaken god and placing a comforting hand on his knee.

"**The people of Typhon are very violent; their world was once a grand, conquering empire. However, they are constantly plagued by civil wars between the ruling clans. Each clan holds a different power- one of light, and the other of dark. These aided them in wars, making them mighty warriors and almost undefeated foes. They gained their powers from a source they believe granted to them by their twin Goddesses," **Thor paused.

"So this source is what's been placed inside a human?" Bruce asked, his voice flat.

"**Nay, friend Banner, for something happened when I was but an infant, eons ago. The Typhon's, as I said, were war-like beings. Their powers over light and dark gave them a balanced army, and allowed them to take over many worlds. However, because of the very strained alliances between the Dark Power clan and the Light Power clan- and their differences in morality and ethics- a large civil war erupted, diminishing their empire and destroying their power source. Shards of this power source flew across galaxies and dimensions, and were hidden for years. The All Father believes one shard was found by HYDRA, and hidden," **Thor finished.

"Well shit," Clint muttered, running a hand through his hair, "that explains the damages done during the attacks."

"**I believe it may be far worse, friend Barton," **Thor said, gripping his hands together in his lap, "**Recently, the Typhons have grown strong again. They remain separated by politics however, each side wanting to annihilate the other, thus causing an imbalance in their powers. Each army has sent out scouts to locate the missing pieces of the relic, in hopes of resurrecting it to destroy the other army. They've mostly reassembled it, and are missing but one piece," **Thor said. Bruce stiffened in fear.

"Let me guess," Steve sighed, "The only piece missing is the one held by our target?"

"**Aye. I wish I bore gladder tidings, but I have more terrible news," **Thor took a deep breath, "**It appears agents of both armies have already arrived on Midgard, and have already begun searching for their lost piece,"** Thor finished, eyes cast down to the floor.

Steve swore violently, and Natasha cursed along with him in Russian.

"We're dealing with aliens again! Fuck," Tony griped, kicking one of Pepper's priceless Ming vases hard enough to knock it over. It felt relieving to break something expensive every once and a while.

"**Friend Stark, I think the safety of the child in question has already been jeopardized. I am certain the child does not know of the greater threat pursuing her. We need to find her, quickly," **Thor urged, voice shockingly quiet.

This disturbed the team; they had never heard Thor speak a decibel below booming, even when saddened or depressed.

"We'll find the kid and from there decide what to do," Steve said, standing up. He walked to the entrance to the balcony where the Quinjet sat, before he turned back to his team and gave final command; "Avengers Assemble!"

They left within an hour's time of the order.

_December 27, 2012_

_City Unknown, Finland._

_ She leaped again, fleeing bullets and bombs, as the ice around her burst into showers of metal and snow._

_ Shadows stretched and shot quickly towards the assailants, smothering them in a cloak of pitch black._

_ Their screams drowned out the screaming of the child's voice in the back of her mind._

_ It was necessary in order to protect the host- as was their duty._

_ So the being kept on slaughtering, to keep the child inside protected and safe._

_ And as the snow turned crimson around her, and as the screams of fear began to crescendo into a symphony of howling pain, the child inside screamed herself into unconsciousness, allowing the shadow to take full control._

_ This time, there would be no survivors._

Thor stood in horrified silence at the scene before him. Centuries of warfare and violence had not trained him for the gore that met his eyes. He could see that even the Man of Iron, hidden behind his faceplate, was affected by the carnage thy found in the clearing.

Only Doctor Banner remained unaffected; he had woken up to worse. He calmly walked through the clearing, ignoring the blood and gore, following the trail of destruction into the receding sunset.

"We need to move on," was all he needed to say. The others followed shortly.

_Finland, December 28_

_ The dark one was tired. She had fought and battled her way through miles and miles of forests and against troop after troop of soldiers. The screaming of the child, the Host, had ceased hours before._

_ It had been at least cycles since the Dark One had rested, and the heavily wooded area She had landed in seemed safe enough to sleep for a while._

_ The Dark one began to shrink down; collapsing in on herself as the child broke free. _

_ The child woke up and cried herself back into unconsciousness; her clothes torn and soaked with the blood of soldiers._

_ And all around her, the clearing filled up with snow._

Finland, December 28th, 2013.

They had split up from Natasha, Clint, and Steve.

Steve had said they'd cover more ground that way, and Fury had also asked him and the two agents to run surveillance at a Global Environmental Summit taking place in the northern part of the country. Bruce agreed immediately, not because he didn't trust Natasha or Clint, but because he wasn't sure how loyal they were to Fury.

He had no intention of turning their target over to SHIELD after they located her. He intended to make a run for it and find a safe place to help teach her control. Tony, who had figured out his intentions early on, volunteered his secret island (yes, he has one) to Bruce, in hopes that it would offer shelter to both escapees.

Thor had caught on to the plan as well. Not wishing to harm the child by turning her in, nor wishing to allow the aliens to continue their rampage, he thought it best to aid the good doctor in his plan to teach the child control. He also offered to ask his mother for guidance in removing the relic inside the child, for the benefit of the afflicted.

All three would have agreed to let their comrades in on the plan, seeing how Livid Natasha had become over Fury demanding the child be brought to him; yet, they were uncertain if the other three Avengers would go along with them. Steve, being a soldier, was likely to be against the plan. Janet, Hank, and T'challa were also options, but they were occupied with other things.

So Thor, Bruce, and Tony were on their own. It was up to them to find the child before the others, and take her to safety. They would of course meet at the rendezvous site, a small hotel near a hot springs resort, in four days, to check in with their teammates. But they would of course turn in a negative report. Then stage two of the plan would take place.

They finally caught up to her in the middle of a forest on the border of Finland and Russia, covered in blood and half frozen as snow gently drifted down…

_The child awoke to a strange sound breaking the silence of the wintry forest around her. She snapped to attention, momentarily forgetting her exhaustion and pain. She leapt to her feet in an attempt to flee, too weak to fight, and too drained for the Light One to take over._

_ The Dark One too seemed reluctant to attack. She did not stir angrily, hungrily within the child, as she usually did when placed in a stressful situation._

_ The Child was still exhausted after such a strenuous few days of flight and fight. She had no energy left to battle, and she was covered in small cuts. Without proper winter wear, her tiny limbs had begun to freeze; fever was beginning to set in._

_ She was still calculating the best route of escape, when the voices suddenly halted._

_ "__**Man of Iron, there is someone up ahead," **__boomed a loud voice from little more than fifteen feet away._

_ "Are there anymore bodies? Do you see any signs she may attack?" came a metallic response. The child shivered in fear, starting to back away._

_ "quiet you morons! You're scaring her!" exclaimed the third voice, which was much smaller than the other two, "Please don't be alarmed; we mean you no harm. We only wish to speak with you," that last part was spoken to her, the child mused._

_ "That's what they all say, and then they die!" The child shouted back, her voice trembling and weak. She moved more quickly, attempting to escape._

_ "Look kid, I know you must hear this a lot, but we mean you no harm," came the metallic voice again, stepping out from behind a tree. It was a man dressed all in armor, like a knight of old, except instead of silver his suit was crimson and gold._

_ "How can I believe that?!" The child exclaimed, voice cracking in fear, "They always make promises, 'you'll be safe!' 'We would never hurt you!' 'come with us and we swear we won't destroy the village you've been hiding in!' and it always ends the same! I always wake up soaked in blood!" the child wailed, wheeling around and sprinting away._

_ She didn't make it far. A few feet away she tripped on a half-frozen tree root and tumbled down a snow pile, landing in an unconscious, sickly heap at the bottom._

_ Her last vision before blacking out was of an olive-skinned man, sliding down bedside her, and lifting her into his arms with all the care she imagined a parent would have. Then darkness crept into her vision and she saw no more._


	3. She In the Dark Found Light

Chapter II

"She in the Dark Found Light."

-Langston Hughes

_December 28, Finland._

The target was younger than the reports had led them to believe. Bruce mused, checking the small body for broken bones, or any other serious injury. He found none, and sighed in relief.

The girl was small, roughly seven or eight; how she had managed to survive so long on her own was a miracle in and of itself, let alone how she managed to live with her power. She was small for her age, and dressed in ragged, baggy clothes, which he assumed to be stolen while she was on the run. She had with her a backpack that had seen better days, a heavy tome of old norse myths, and nothing else. Bruce gently lifted her up, turning to the other two Avengers.

"Jesus… she's just a kid!" Tony exclaimed, his voice concerned, "I mean, the reports said she was a minor, I just didn't think she'd be that young."

"Niether did I… we need to get to shelter, Tony; She's really sick," Bruce said, noting the girl's temperature felt too warm to be healthy.

"We're nearby a town with an inn, we can buy a room there," Tony said.

"How do we explain the half- dead child then?" Bruce asked, eyebrow raised. Thor took off his cape and handed it to the doctor, who looked at him surprised.

"**She is trembling and her limbs are blue," **he stated, concern in his eyes, "**We need to get her some place warm, and then assure her that we will not bring harm to her."**

"I can call in a favor with a friend who owns a hotel chain up here," Tony said, "He can get us into a room without being seen."

"Hurry up and do it then, we don't have much time," Bruce said, and the armored Tony nodded, shooting into the sky as fast as he could.

_She woke up in a warm, bright place, the scent of burning pastry wafted through the air, and she was wrapped in a thick, heavy blanket. Still drowsy with sleep, she started to fully sit up, fear creeping up her spine._

_ There were three voices in the room; a sharp-tongued, snippy voice; a calm, warm-sounding voice; and a voice that was as loud as thunder. _

_ "Quiet you two," hushed the calm voice, "She's waking up!"_

_ The child sat up quickly, spine tingling with fear. The calm one tried to urge her back down but she was too fast. She ran, dragging the blanket with her, and bolted towards the nearest door. She slammed and locked it behind her, only to realize that it was a closet. She had trapped herself inside the enemies' home!_

_ "Hey, it's all right kid," the sharp voice said, softly, in English, "we won't hurt you."_

_ "__**Aye," **__the loud voice said, __**"We wish to befriend you, and keep you safe."**_

_ "That's what they all say!" The child cried, clutching the blanket around her, " And then they try to kill me or hurt me!"_

_ The loud voice translated for her, as she spoke in her native tongue. There was silence from the other side of the door._

_ "__**You're so much like my shield- brother, Midgardian Cub," **__the loud voice said, in a lower, sadder tone that still vibrated the floor when he spoke, "__**he too does not wish to harm anyone. Please come forward, child; we only wish to help."**_

_ "They said that too, when I was little. Leave me alone before I kill you all," She begged, exhausted, scared, and trembling._

_ "__**I swear by my honor that no harm shall befall you, or any of us, today," **__the loud voice boomed, cracking a window in the other room. The child paused for a moment, before cracking open the door, and slowly slipping out._

_She's small, _Bruce noticed, wincing at how tiny the child's body appeared when wrapped in Thor's enormous cape, _underweight, which is to be expected, but the reports led me to believe she was at least eleven. This girl can't be more than eight!_

The girl shifted awkwardly, eyes searching for the nearest escape route. She shivered, tugging Thor's cape closer around her body. She whispered something into Thor's ear.

"**The child requests that you do not stare at her," **Thor said, sternly, "**It is making her uncomfortable."**

"my apologies," Bruce said to the blonde god, who translated back, "I only wished to make sure you weren't wounded. The girl nodded, eyes still searching the room for some sort of escape route. Her eyes paused momentarily on the bowl of fruit on the coffee table, and her stomach growled loudly.

"would you like something to eat?" Bruce asked, and the child hesitated, before nodding. Bruce handed her the bowl of fruit, plucking a handful of grapes and making a show of popping them in his mouth.

"Take whatever you'd like," he said, gently, "It's all right."

The child quickly snatched a small apple from the bowl, nibbling it slowly. She cautiously looked around the room, eyeing each man as if planning how best to take them down if need be.

"I suppose we should introduce ourselves," Tony said, watching the child curiously, "I am Tony Stark, genius, billionaire, and owner and operator of the Iron Man suit. The curly haired doctor guy is Bruce Banner, also a genius, and part-time Giant green Rage Monster. The tall, muscular, blonde Swedish supermodel to your left is none other than Thor, god of thunder."

The child's eyes widened when the names were mentioned. She turned to face Thor, a deep blush on her face. She had seen him on tv, and had read about him in the libraries of the towns she had run through. She couldn't help but form a crush on the massive, ancient god.

"**Where do you hail from, child? What is your name?" **the god in question asked, curiously, oblivious to the way the child looked at him with starry eyes. Tony snorted his laughter, excusing himself politely to "buy the kid some clothes that actually fit".

The child though, remained silent, as if unsure how to answer Thor's question.

"I'm… I don't have a house," The child said, in broken English, "I'm from a bad place. Bad lab," she muttered, trailing off.

Bruce and Thor exchanged a glance, each remembering the names of the organizations hunting the child.

"Do you have a name?" Bruce asked, concerned. The child looked sheepishly at him.

"131423" the child replied, "That's what the bad men called me. The scientists. They said I didn't have a family, 'coz mama died giving birth, and Papa was killed when they took Mama," she added, nervously. Thor's cape fell from around her shoulders, revealing, burned into her skin, the numbers that she identified as her name. Bruce sucked in a breath, feeling the Hulk inside screaming in rage. Thor gazed at the numbers, both pity and rage crossing his features.

"**Those men cannot reach you here," **he rumbled, angrily, the glass window panes shaking at the sound of his voice, "**you are among friends and comrades here. With us you shall be safe!" **

The girl gave him a skeptical look, nibbling her apple a little more, as she tugged the cape up around her shoulders. Tony suddenly shot up, and went to the small coffee table set in front of the couch.

"I have clothes for you, by the way," He said, holding up a bag, "They're from the hotel's lobby, so they're not much, but they'll be warmer than what you were wearing before."

The clothes consisted of a large t-shirt, with the hotel's logo printed on it, and a pair of children's sweat pants. The shirt was green, and landed nearly at the child's ankles, and the sweatpants were a few sizes too large, but still comfortable. The child thanked Tony softly, before falling silent again.

Bruce took her temperature and checked the still-healing scratches and scars on her arms and legs. Deciding that her temperature had decreased significantly, he listened to her lungs before asking if she needed anything else. The child looked at him suspiciously.

"Why are you helping?" she asked, confused, "Why do you want to help me?" she gazed at all three of them suspiciously, as if expecting them to betray her.

"Because you need it," Tony replied, calmly.

"I still don't understand," The child asked again.

"You need help…. We can help you, offer you shelter, a place to sleep, and a way to control your powers," Bruce said, "But we need your trust first. If you don't want our help, we won't stop you from leaving…. Just know that more dangerous forces than SHIELD, HYDRA, and others are after you."

The girl was silent again for a long time, staring at the floor, lost in thought, "You'd help me control my powers? But I don't control them… they decide when they come out."

"So does the other guy," Bruce shrugged, as he poured water into the kettle. The child's eyes lit up wide as his words registered.

"You're the-' she stared, but Bruce broke her off.

"Yes; I am the Hulk," he stated, quietly, "I know what it's like to have another person inside you all of the time- pushing against your every will, fighting to come out. That's why I believe I can help you," he finished, the girl looking at him in awe.

Silence reigned in the room once more. Tony shuffled awkwardly, and Thor gazed once more out the window. His eyes suddenly widened.

"**Friend Banner, I believe we have a problem," **he stated, quickly scooping the child into his arms and urging her to hide in the closet.

"What's wrong point-break? What did you see?!" Tony asked quickly, grabbing for his briefcase armor. He wasn't fast enough, for at that moment, the door blew in, and Natasha stood there, glaring at him. Beside her were Clint, Jan, and Steve, all equally displeased.

"You've been keeping secrets," Clint tsked, sarcastically, "That's not very nice."

"Well shit," Tony said, backing up. Thor remained posted by the closet door defensively, his hand on the hilt of Mjolnir.

"we weren't sure how loyal you were to Fury," Bruce stated out right. He matched Natasha's glare evenly, not once looking away.

"where are you hiding her, Banner?" She said, coldly.

"Whose side are you on?" Bruce demanded, equally as cold, "If you plan on taking her and turning her into Fury, don't think for a moment I won't Hulk out right now. He has no right to keep a child in a cage."

"Wait, you thought we'd turn her in?" Clint asked, offended, "Like hell!"

"We trust Fury no more than you do, Bruce," Steve said, falling back, "We were actually going to take the child and put her into hiding as well…."

"Don't tell me you three had the same idea!" Jan cried.

"Pretty much," Tony said, smirking, "so we're all on the same page here?"

"I guess so," Natasha said, her face relaxing back from her glare.

"Will she see us?" Steve asked curiously.

Thor nodded, and moved aside from the door, knocking on it gently.

"**Child," **he said, the door rattling in its hinges, "**It is safe to emerge."** The door opened a crack, and the girl stuck her face out, looking around cautiously, before stepping out of the closet entirely. She shook her lanky, unkempt brown hair from her face, and peered at the newcomers from under her eyelashes. She was trembling, her eyes shooting about once more, looking for an escape route, but finding none available; there were too many large adults in her way. Her eyes went wide upon seeing Captain America standing in the room, though Natasha was unsure whether it was out of fear or awe.

"**Fear not, child; they will bring you no harm," **Thor said, patting her gently on the head. The little girl still hid behind him nervously.

"So… has she made a decision?" Clint asked, kneeling down to the child's level and sitting cross legged across from her.

"We were just getting to that when you all blew the door in," Tony said, rolling his eyes.

"**What say you, child? Do you wish to stay with us? We would not let any harm come to you, nor would you be a stranger in our home," **Thor asked, also kneeling before the child.

The girl was silent for a long time, lost in thought.

"They want me to go with you," The girl started to say slowly, gesturing to her chest, where Bruce assumed the relic had been implanted, "They say, you safe? But What if I lose control? Then I hurt you, and I'll be running again," her English became broken and she spoke frantically.

"Well put it this way," Tony said simply, "Brucie here has to deal with the other guy on a daily basis. Everyone in the tower runs the risk of bringing out Big Green on accident, yet we don't judge either of them. In fact, I love the Hulk. I'm a super big fan," he smirked, "You'd fit right in with us at the tower- powers or not. Besides, Pepper loves to spoil children, and she and Jan love shopping. It'll be fine."

The girl went silent again, still thinking. The silence stretched on for a few moments, as if she were having an internal argument.

"I will only come under one condition," She stated, looking up, "If I feel the need to run again, you will not stop me. You will not follow me unless you feel I am in immediate danger, and your spies won't send men after me unless I start being evil," she said sternly.

"Agreed," Steve replied, without hesitation, "Thi sis your choice and if you feel at any point you must leave, we won't stop you. You are not a prisoner. However, while staying with us there are some ground rules, but we can cover those later."

The child nodded, and stepped out from behind her hiding spot.

"I will come with you then," She said, tiredly. She tried to stifle a yawn, but was unsuccessful.

"**Then let us be off! There is much to see, and Lord Fury is probably on to our plot!" **Thor said, scooping the exhausted child into his arms, and heading towards the door, Bruce walking swiftly behind him.

"She'll need a name- a proper one," Tony said, "She identifies herself by the number HYDRA assigned her,' he grimaced.

"We'll settle that later, but for now let's focus on getting her home, getting her clothes that fit, and getting her something substantial to eat," Natasha replied, following the Norse god from the room.

The Avengers all left the hotel feeling successful and cocky; they'd managed to outsmart Fury. They left in such haste that none of them noticed the blinking light peeking inside from the window. It was a small piece of metal, undetectable by most modern scanners, and alien to Earth's Technology.

It's mission complete, the device changed shape, morphing into a bug-like machine that flew away into the falling snow, unseen by anyone.

All hell was on the child's trail.

_AUTHOR'S NOTE_

_AUTHOR'S NOTE_

_I AM SO SORRY ABOUT THE WAIT (not really, I'm kind of an asshole like that. *inset sunlasses* DEAL WITH IT.) What I am sorry about is this GOD AWFUL ATROCITY I just saddled you with._

_I have asperger's syndrome (fuck all of you spelling freaks (not really) I don't care if that's spelt incorrectly) and it makes it difficult to experience, react to, and write about social encounters- especially those dealing with emotions. So I feel this chapter is really dry, monotonous, poorly written, and ick. (elegant, very elegant) So Please forgive me if it's unrealistic. And Out of Character._

_If you wish to learn more about Aspergers, look it up online. I could sit here and lecture you until my hands get cramped up, but I'm not THAT cruel (yes I am, don't let the butterfly icon fool you.)_

_Asperger's makes I very hard to write social situations that seem realistic. It's a battle I am struggling to overcome. So I'd appreciate it if you didn't point out how bad the dialogue in this chapter is, and how he reactions are probably wrong. I already know. It's partially why the chapter took so gogdamn long to write._

_Bee tee dubs, Thanks for the reviews, I'd very much like to hear more. (unless they're mean, in which case, suck it it's my story. I just don't own all the characters.)_

_Also, if it isn't too Forward, I would LOVE IT, if people would provide some arts for me. Possibly. It's just a request *hides* I draw too, and I'm just curious…_

_And NEXT CHAPTER;_

_ALL THE JOYS OF PARENTING, POPTARTS, AND SENDING EMOTIONALLY TRAUMATISED CHILDREN TO SCHOOL._

_ Also, possibly, ENTER X-MEN. Prepare for some hard core FLUFF. (and Fury rage. Fury Rage is always awesome…. Kinda._


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